Joy Ride still due out this year

Microsoft has confessed that Big Park's upcoming Avatar and microtransaction orientated Xbox Live racing game Joy Ride has slipped.

The platform holder put a jolly old spin on it, telling Joystiq that it was "thrilled" by the E3 2009 reaction to the game and "committed to delivering the most robust experience to the community", but admitted the game was merely listed as "2010" for now.

Joy Ride is due out exclusively for Xbox 360 and will be free to all Xbox Live users.

Check out our Joy Ride trailer to get the measure of it and look out for more coverage soon.